What you receive when an EPR registration completes

When a country registers you, you receive two things for each registration. The first is the registration number, issued by that country's authority or scheme; the second is the Eldris certificate for that registration. Both arrive in your Eldris portal market by market, as each country confirms. The numbers are what a marketplace asks for, and the certificate is what to give for a customs query. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 44(4), a producer may not make packaging available in a country until it is registered there. From then on Eldris handles renewals, declarations and correspondence with the authorities.

What arrives in your portal, registration by registration

For each country and stream you register, you receive the registration number and an Eldris certificate. The country's authority or scheme issues the number to Eldris, and Eldris then issues the certificate for that registration. Both are added to your portal as each country confirms, so they arrive one market at a time.

A registration means one country and one stream. A seller registering packaging, electrical equipment and batteries in Germany holds three registrations there, so it receives three numbers and three certificates. Adding France for the same streams brings three more. Registers work at different speeds, which is why the deliveries are staggered rather than bundled at the end. Each line's average time to register is on the pricing page. It is counted from the day Eldris has your complete documents and signed power of attorney. Averages are not dates.

The certificate is Eldris's record of the registration: one document per registration to file, forward or print. The number is the part that gets checked. It identifies your entry in the national register, and it is what a marketplace asks for. Keep each number with the country and the stream it belongs to.

The numbers by stream, and the registers behind them

Each stream has its own law, and there is no single EU number. Packaging, electrical equipment and batteries are registered separately in each country. The table shows the law behind each registration and examples of the numbers that result.

In Germany, the packaging number comes from the LUCID register, and the WEEE and battery numbers from Stiftung EAR. France issues its UIN with the registration for each stream. Poland works differently: one BDO number covers every stream, and a table is added for each one. Spain packaging can only be filed once your Spanish NIF has been issued, so the NIF arrives before the packaging number. The Amazon EPR requirements page lists what each marketplace verifies, country by country.

What counts as proof before the number is issued

Before the number is issued there is a file in progress, not a registration. Your portal shows each country's state. A portal that shows every step complete means your file is queued, not that the country has registered you.

Eldris usually submits to the authorities within 48 hours of your payment and product information. From then on your portal shows the state of each country's file. That status is a record of progress for your own planning. It is not a registration, and Eldris does not issue a provisional number of its own. A number comes only from the authority or the scheme.

The law sets the order. Each of the three laws in the table asks for registration before goods are placed on a country's market. A file in the queue does not stand in for a number. A marketplace that verifies numbers asks for the number itself. If a marketplace has given you a deadline, say so before you pay, by replying to your quote. Eldris can then compare the date with that line's average time to register. A deadline raised after payment cannot move an authority's timetable.

What to show a marketplace, and what to give for a customs query

A marketplace asks for the number, for its own country and for each stream you sell there. For a customs query, the certificate is what to give. If your Responsible Person handles customs queries for you, send the certificate to them.

Each marketplace checks the numbers of its own country. A German number does nothing on Amazon.fr, and a French UIN does nothing on Amazon.it. Match each number to its stream as well: a packaging number does not stand in for a WEEE number, and neither covers batteries. Where each number goes in Seller Central, marketplace by marketplace, is set out in the guide to Amazon EPR numbers in Seller Central.

A customs query is about a shipment, not a listing. The certificate is Eldris's record of the registration, and it is the document to give. What a customs office or a carrier does with it is their decision, and Eldris makes no promise that it settles any particular check. Letters from an authority or a scheme about the registration itself are part of the correspondence Eldris handles.

What Eldris does from the day the number arrives

From then on Eldris handles renewals, declarations and correspondence with the authorities. Each country's 12 months run from the date that country confirms the registration. A country added later uses the details already on file.

Declarations are the recurring part. You send the weight and the number of units you placed on each market. Eldris then files the declarations, per period, as the scheme sets. Renewals follow each country's own date. Every registration runs for 12 months from the day its country confirmed it. A seller registered in several countries therefore has staggered dates, not one renewal day. Correspondence with the registers and schemes about each registration stays with Eldris.

A further country starts from the business details already on file, so you do not repeat the onboarding. It brings its own number, its own certificate and its own 12 months. Scheme and authority fees stay separate and are passed through at cost, as the scheme and authority fees page shows. The four steps from quote to numbers are on how it works. This question sits with the others sellers ask on the EPR questions page.

Frequently asked questions

Who issues the number, and who issues the certificate?

The country's authority or scheme issues the registration number to Eldris. Eldris then issues the certificate for that registration. The number is what a marketplace asks for; the certificate is Eldris's record of the registration and the document to give for a customs query.

Is there one EPR number for the whole EU?

No. Each country issues its own number, and in Germany, France and Italy each stream has its own. A German number does nothing on Amazon.fr, and a French UIN does nothing on Amazon.it. Poland issues one BDO number for every stream.

Where do I find my numbers and certificates?

In your Eldris portal, country by country. Each number and certificate is added when that country confirms the registration, so they arrive one market at a time. Until then the overview shows the state of each file.

Does a portal with every step complete mean I am registered?

No. It means your file is queued. You are registered in a country when its authority or scheme issues the number. Eldris then adds the number and the certificate to your portal.

What should I give if customs asks about EPR?

The certificate. If your Responsible Person handles customs queries for you, send it to them. How a customs office or carrier uses it is their decision, and Eldris makes no promise about any particular check.

What do I do once the number arrives?

Send your figures for each period: the weight and number of units you placed on each market. Eldris files the declarations, handles renewals and deals with the authorities. A country added later uses the details already on file, so you do not repeat the onboarding.